As the title says. The Learned Lizard website has been given access to publish an article titled: "What are the most popular reptile species in the world?" Here are the top 10 reptiles that interested users of the English-language version of Wikipedia in 2014: Komodo dragon Black mamba Saltwater crocodile King cobra Gila monster Cottonmouth (viper) American alligator Leatherback sea turtle Nile crocodile Boa constrictor
Mos popular pet reptiles: Green iguana Bearded dragon Burmese python Ball python Fiji banded iguana Corn snake Herman tortoise Greek tortoise Leopard gecko Emerald tree boa Most popular zoo reptiles: Komodo dragon Fiji banded iguana King cobra Aldabra giant tortoise Nile crocodile Eyelash viper Gaboon viper Black mamba Emerald tree monitor Gila monster ??? I define most popular like most numerous and/or reptiles in high demand. I guess many zoos will want to keep Golden lancehead (Bothrops insularis) or Fiji long-crested iguana
Everyone will have their own opinion on this and i would be interested in know them please. Did you read the article ? Its all related to Big Data Mining "Oxford University’s Dr. Uri Roll, Mittermeier’s co-lead author on the study, said that mining Big Data such as Wikipedia pageviews was capable of providing a view on conservation that has been previously unavailable".
I have to agree with Nikola; when it comes to "popularity" in terms of people being familiar with certain species (up to the point of specimens kept by humans), his list makes far more sense (except for the Fiji banded iguana and the Emerald tree boa; species such as the red-eared slider, the boa constrictor or the crested gecko are far more popular and more commonly traded pet species). The title of your article is not very precise, and doesn't take the aspect of reptile species kept as pets (which is a profound aspect of popularity) into account at all. The wikipedia articles on komodo dragons, black mamba or king cobra are probably often addressed to (if they are indeed read is a different aspect...) because of the notoriety (unfortunately) associated with these names as well as the aspect of "superlativity", which also brings in the otherwise largely unknown leatherback turtle onto the list. Your article mentions Vipera berus as a very "popular" species on the international versions of Wikipedia. This "popularity" of Vipera berus might rather be contributed to the (mainly European) users of Wikipedia trying to find out whether the snake they just saw was venomous or not, and therefore looking for it on Wikipedia; the same might ring true for the cottonmouth (concerning American users). Popular pet reptile species probably don't make the list because most people will directly go to FB or internet forums specifically dedicated to the husbandry of these animals to look for information. "I guess many zoos will want to keep Golden lancehead (Bothrops insularis) or Fiji long-crested iguana." I doubt that; most zoos aren't that interested in obtaining and keeping rare reptile species these days. This is more a thing of the private sector.